BNP Paribas Egypt has opened an account in the name of the Egyptian Food Bank, and has invited its clients and personnel to make donations. Furthermore, BNP Paribas Egypt has signed an agreement committing itself to supply food for two villages throughout an entire year, as part of the “A village free of Hunger” program.

The Egyptian Food Bank has one concrete goal in the seemingly endless battle with hunger, to provide the link between those who want to help and those who need it. In more concrete terms, it links companies, organizations or individuals, in a position to make monetary or material donations, and the million others, who need help and are often marginalized.

Egyptian Food Bank runs three main programs: “ A village free of Hunger”, where BNP Paribas Egypt is already an active participant, “Together against Hunger”,which is an ongoing monthly food supply program to the needy and “Odheya” concentrating around donations during the religious holidays.

The organization has undertaken the mission to organize charity work in Egypt in terms of professional standards, focusing on better logistics between donors and recipients of aid. It has so far provided training for 465 charity associations.

The problems they are facing are numerous, from identifying the most needy, to maintaining active network of donors, but there are also some prejudices and social stigmas that the organization tries to fight. The managing director of the Food Bank Mr. Moez El Shohdy said to Al Alam el Youm newspaper, “For those who say that fighting hunger by giving people the remaining food at hotels is a degradation of human pride, I say people only receive clean good quality food from the hotels . Human pride cannnot be hurt when a person is hungry and helpless.”

BNP Paribas Egypt has assisted financially the Egyptian Food Bank in the broadcasting of advertising campaign (media booking), which aimed to raise awareness among people.

Egyptian Food Bank’s awareness campaign is airing on “Al Qahera Al Youm program” Orbit channel during 2009/2010